I was sent an image by someone while I was on IRC this morning. Since I was a little busy at the time, I set it aside so that I could look at it later since I had trouble reading the contents quickly. All I knew was that someone wrote a book report about me and my comic. Well, my wife and I deciphered it after dinner and both of us were pretty amused and someone bewildered.
I have blacked out the name of the author to protect their innocence. Despite them claiming to know me, I’m not entirely sure from where. I can’t say that I personally know many 7th graders that read BS/OD. This person did seem to care enough, though, to write about what I do and I figured that I should respond to it.
“Book report on BSOD comics by [NAME REMOVED], 7th Grade, Class 2a – Let me preface this report by saying that yes, I do know the author personally, but I shall refrain from any bias as much as possible. The relevance of this is significant, however, as you shall soon see that this manuscript provides a terrifying look into the author’s deranged psyche.
[Teacher's note on this paragraph: Unnecessary.]”
Deranged psyche, eh? Okay, I have to agree with that somewhat. There really is a lot of ‘me’ in BS/OD but most of it is letting my creativity run wild. Sure, it doesn’t always make sense but I think a number of the people who know me and read my comic are aware of the reason for it. I’m kind of a strange guy and I’m pretty happy with that. You should see me what I’m like without medication!
“”Abandon all hope, ye who enter.”[Teacher's note: Pointless and pretentious.]”
My wife would probably agree with both of these statements. What do you think?
“Although the narrative of this comic is too vast and convoluted, [Teacher's note: Much like this sentence.] venturing as far as combining horrific anime-esque atrocities with well known public domain literary classics such as Alice in Wonderland, peppered with comedic timing that would make Michael J. Fox seem like a metronome [Teacher's note: Tasteless and flawed analogy.] to describe here, at least the protagonist is somewhat clearly defined.”
Wow! I think I like this teacher but I think it’s because I’m not used to one making such snarky comments. I guess the author of this report doesn’t find me very funny? I’m not entirely sure after reading this ‘flawed analogy’.
“The comic starts with an author self-insertion manhandling the poor robot protagonist named Hondo, verbally abusing him to the point of making a Styx-reference at him. There are two interesting elements to note here, namely the emasculating butterfly wings that the author avatar maliciously appends to poor Hondo’s back, as well as the fact that Hondo ends up “trapped” on a diminutive isle.”
I’m rather impressed with myself that I have this power of abusing people with Styx references. I wish I could hone that skill and use it as my super power. That would be awesome!
“I believe this scene is important in the sense that the author creates a sort of role reversal, profiling himself as the bully while placing the person getting bullied in a sympathetic light. This strongly autobiographical tone implies some repressed resentment as well as a desire for “power” on the author’s part.[Teacher's note: Watch your handwriting.]”
I bully my characters because it’s fun. I’m all about the schadenfreude! Oh! I can’t forget my lust for power! Some day I will will rule this pathetic planet with my cunning whit! You mortals will all stand before me and chat my name while Rock Concert Movement #2! Their will be windmill head-banging whilst I rock out on my keytar…when I get a keytar, that is.
Seriously, though, I’m rather humbled by this here report. Someone actually took the time to read my comic and write about it! I think that makes me cool now. I think I’m a pretty cool guy. Don’t you?
I think my favorite part is the implication that Styx references are the height of verbal abuse.